A TANGLED WEB

FRESH FIELDS........

Frank Field has to be congratulated on raising the the taboo topic of the unprecedented levels of immigration into the United Kingdom.  The former welfare reform minister and a highly respected party veteran, said present policy was ''unsustainable''. He is the most significant centre-Left figure to warn about the apparently untrammelled influx of foreign workers and their families. In my view he's a brave man who has frequently shown political integrity.

He also said he doubted whether the levels of immigration could be absorbed without dramatic changes to Britain's nature and culture.

"This is the most massive transformation of our population. Do we merely accept this as another form of globalisation? That it doesn't matter where you are, or that you belong to a country and have roots? That we are all just following the jobs? There will be economic gains but I am just raising whether any country can sustain the rate of immigration we are now suffering.

"If we are not careful, we will be transformed into a global traffic station and that is not what most people mean by being part of a country. It is only because the BNP are so inept that the debate has not taken off."

NOW THE PAST HAS BEEN BOTTLED..

....and labelled with love! What a great song from Squeeze. It dates back to their golden era around 1981, and it's a classic pop song set to a country and western melody with top British lyrics...produced by my hero Elvis Costello and with a funny/sad story. Wistful and lovely....

He like a cowboy died drunk in his slumber
Out on the porch in the middle of summer,
She crossed the ocean back home to her family
But they had retired to roads that were sandy,
She moved home alone without friends or relations
Lived in a world full of age reservation,
On moth eaten armchairs she'd say that she'd sod all
The friends who had left her to drink from the bottle.

Drinks to remember, I me and myself
And winds up the clock
And knocks dust from the shelf
Home is a love that I miss very much
So the past has been bottled and labelled with love.

Ah, happy days from long ago...Squeeze were a great band. I loved their stuff, from the tenderness of Labelled with Love through the rocking Another Nail in my Heart to the sublime Tempted. I met Chris Difford, one of the co-writers of these classics, some years ago and thanked him for all the joy his music had given me.

THE PRIDE PARADE...

I am not in the least surprised to read that Americans are the most patriotic nation on Earth, according to a survey of 34 democracies, with the USA gaining the leading score in pride over specific accomplishments. 

Researchers found that nations with growing national pride were those that had experienced terrorist attacks on their citizens, such as the United States and Australia. (No mention of cowardly Dhimmi Spain) These experiences usually strengthened national solidarity.The study also found that within the surveyed countries, national pride was generally lower among minority groups, the better-educated and younger adults.

Ireland came in third, and the UK 11th. The countries at the bottom of the list are generally established nations in Europe. Quelle surprise, old Europe is dying!

A MEASURE OF CIVILISATION...

This is ghoulish but worth contemplation.

At Queen's Park Hospital in Blackburn, the bodies of patients who have died have been left on hospital wards overnight, apparently because a funding crisis led to a shortage of night porters who are needed to move them to the mortuary. The East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust in charge of Queen's Park — which subscribes to a scheme entitled 'Pursuing Perfection' — says that since it is under pressure to save £11.6million by next April, it can't afford to replace four night porters who are off sick or who have resigned.  One porter at the hospital has claimed that three bodies were left on the wards last week for more than eight hours.

As Melanie Phillips says...

People say that you can measure how civilised a country is by the way it treats its dead. Judging by that yardstick, it would seem parts of Britain are not very civilised at all.

And she's quite right. At the time of death, it is so important that the dead are treated with respect. But it's not just in this critical area that the NHS fails to respect. A recent survey found that up to 5,000 frail and elderly patients die each year because they are not put in intensive care beds for monitoring after their operations — having been written off simply because they are old.

Such contempt for old people surely has its roots in the widespread erosion of religious belief, which has resulted in a loss of respect for the innate value of human life. Instead, respect is now afforded in proportion to the presumed usefulness of that life. The shocking revelations from Queen's Park Hospital in Blackburn suggest that the NHS is suffering not merely from a financial crisis, but a moral one, too — and one that reflects shamefully upon all of us.

EMPTY WELLS...

Jim Wells, who has a reputation as a passionate environmentalist, (Mmmm...a reputation with whom, himself?) was one of two MLAs who spoke for the party on the topic under MP William McCrea. But Mr Wells had become increasingly isolated within the DUP on environmental matters.

The South Down MLA is believed to have "endured sniping" (Believed by whom, Jim?) from some colleagues who briefed against him and called him a "tree hugger".(Oh No - not that!) When asked why he was no longer listed on the DUP website as a spokesman, Mr Wells told the Belfast Telegraph:

"Yes, it is true I no longer speak on behalf of the party on environment matters. But I want to emphasise that I remain happy with all other key planks of party policy such as decommissioning."

And salary levels, one presumes.I'm 100% with the DUP hierarchy on this one. Maybe Jim should stand on the Green Party agenda and see how he gets on? I mean, you've got to put your environmental principles first...right?

THE UBERCOP INTERVENES!

The thing about most senior policemen is that they are not policemen. Take Sir Hugh Orde - Chief Constable of the PSNI. On this day of attempted political blackmail, he has popped up - on cue - to declare that the IRA is delivering on its words of last July when it announced an end to its armed campaign. Sir Hugh has repeated his assessment that the IRA will not return to armed struggle.

"If you look at the evidence, they are doing what they said they would deliver - no beatings, no shootings," he told the Belfast Telegraph. "Are they going back to an armed struggle? No."

Wonder who murdered Denis Donaldson? Wonder when the IRA's multi-million crime syndicate was wound up? Wonder when the IRA has disbanded? Wonder how 10,000 bullets can pop up AFTER the alleged IRA decommissioning? Wonder what price a Knighthood?

PRESIDENT WELCOMES DEPRAVITY

I see that the Mary McAleese, President of the Irish Republic, who imagines that she has Some role to play in the affairs of Northern Ireland, has been welcoming a new "cross community" scheme, called the Finaghy Crossroads Group as a great example for the rest of Northern Ireland. The group is co-chaired by an apologist for the UDA and an apologist for the IRA. This, in the depraved imaginations of peace processors like McAleese, is a wonderful break-through. Decent people who live under the cosh of republican and loyalist hoods will look on in horror. The future, in McAleese's mind, belongs to those who have terrorised this community for DECADES. Spare me your platitudes, Mary Mary so contrary.

The Brun of Anger

At the same time as O'Snotrap spits blood about the arrival of a HM Naval vessel in Dublin, Babs Brown is venting spleen about another issue in a land far, far away.  She is calling on the EU to suspend preferential trade arrangements with Israel because of the offensive launched by the Israelis to return a kidnapped soldier to the safety of his barracks.

Let's recap:

1. Palestinians dance with joy in the street when they hear the news of the 9/11 attacks.  Criticism from Babs - NONE!

2. Hamas launches a series of suicide bombings killing dozens and dozens of Israeli citizens.  Criticism from Babs - NONE!

3. Palestinian people elect a Hamas government in the full knowledge of the atrocities committed by that organisation.  Criticism from Babs - NONE!

4. Hamas guerillas tunnel into Israel where they proceed to kidnap a soldier, Cpl Gilad Shalit.  Criticism from Babs - NONE!

5. Israel begins retaliatory attacks on the Gaza Strip and enacts an operation to seize Hamas political personnel.  Criticism from Babs - SUSPEND TRADE ARRANGEMENTS WITH ISRAEL.

Sinn Fein/IRA and the Palestinians have much in common.  Scum camaraderic unto scum.

The Big Ship Sails....

Poor Angus O'Snotrap.  Another Sinn Fein fume about something as anodyne and entertaining as a British Naval vessel docking in the Irish Republic.  Snotrap says:

'The arrival in Dublin today of HMS Ocean is totally unacceptable, as is the presence of any British military apparatus on this island, including our ports, airports, seas and skies, while the British military occupation of the Six Counties and of Iraq continues.'

There is no military occupation of any 'Six Counties'.  There is the operational remit of HM Armed Forces within HM Realm.  As for Iraq, the military occupation there is mandated by a UN resolution.  Sinn Fein in the Republic: new faces, old codswallop! 

With Compliments?

Given the petulant and childish attitude of the Scots to the England football team, would the picture below be a good idea for a motif on the assorted garments of Wimbledon spectators?